Of those polled, 23 per cent strongly supported including in-house lobbyists, compared with two per cent who strongly opposed it.

Populus’ findings show that 76 per cent of Labour MPs backed the inclusion of in-house lobbyists, compared with 59 per cent of Liberal Democrats and 36 per cent of Conservatives.

PRCA director of comms Matt Cartmell said: "This proves there’s an appetite for the universal register, something we’ve called for all along, among politicians too. Why the Government isn’t listening to us, I don’t know – it’s about time it did."

Last month the Cabinet Office quashed hopes that a pause in the progress of the bill through the House of Lords to further scrutinise the charity proposals could lead to a rethink on the lobbying register.

CIPR director of policy and comms Phil Morgan said: "MPs now seem to agree with what the industry has been saying. There are still more amendments that can be brought forward, and it would be good to think this polling could influence government thinking."

The credibility of the proposals also received a blow in terms of which parliamentary figures would be covered.

Forty-nine per cent backed a register that covered lobbyist contact with not just ministers and permanent secretaries as is currently proposed, but special advisers and MPs too.

This compares with 38 per cent who opposed the idea.

Overall, only 23 per cent supported the option of doing nothing in relation to regulating lobbying, but among Conservative MPs 43 per cent backed the idea.

The Cabinet Office had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publishing.